Bowers sweeps overall victories in Albuquerque with eighth win of AMSOIL Arenacross season

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (March 8, 2014) – AMSOIL Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael’s Road to Supercross, hosted its final night of action inside Tingley Coliseum, in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday night to conclude the second round of the season-ending Race to the Championship. After narrowly taking the Arenacross Class victory on Friday night, Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki presented by Maxxis rider Tyler Bowers made it a sweep in Albuquerque with a more convincing effort on Night Two. In the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class, Team Faith/FLY Racing KTM’s Kelly Smith once again led every lap of the Main Event en route to a dominant third consecutive victory.

Bowers moved into the early lead to start the first 15-lap Arenacross Class Main Event, with PBR/TiLube/TUF Racing Honda’s Jacob Hayes in second and his Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki teammate Zach Ames in third. Bowers set a torrid pace over the first few laps to establish a multi-second lead over his rivals. Behind him, Hayes and Ames engaged in a battle for second with Ames ultimately making the pass on Lap 3. From there, the three riders broke away from the field and maintained their positions. Bowers finished just over two seconds ahead of Ames, with Hayes in third.

Bowers selected the inversion for the second Main Event, picking 16 and inverting the entire field.

Motosport.com/MJM Express/Spinechillers Racing Kawasaki’s Michael McDade took advantage of the inversion to grab the early lead in the second Main Event, followed by Team Faith/FLY Racing KTM’s Cheyenne Harmon and TZR/Woodstock KTM’s Travis Sewell in second and third. Hayes emerged with the best start of the podium finishers from the first Main Event in sixth, while Bowers followed in ninth and Ames in 10th. It didn’t take long for Hayes to make his way up front, moving into third place by Lap 3 and eventually into the lead on Lap 6. As he made his upward progression, so did Bowers, breaking into the top five on Lap 5, into podium position on Lap 6, and then behind Hayes in second on Lap 8. Despite his best efforts, Bowers couldn’t track down his rival. Hayes took the Main Event win by a narrow margin over Bowers, while McDade held on to finish third. Ames worked his way through the field to finish fifth.

Bowers’ 1-2 finishes were better than Hayes’ 3-1 results, giving him the overall by just two points. Ames duplicated the overall podium from Friday night in third (2-5) and maintained his lead in the Race to the Championship.

Earlier in the evening, Ames defeated Bowers in Head-to-Head Bracket Racing to give him an additional championship bonus point.

By virtue of Bowers’ win, Ames’ lead in the Race to the Championship has been trimmed to just three points. Hayes maintains control of third, 11 points out of the lead. Just two rounds and three nights of racing remain in the Race to the Championship.

Smith’s continued dominance in the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Championship began by capturing the early lead in the Main Event, followed by AJ Oilfield Services Kawasaki’s Gray Davenport in second and KMS KTM’s Dave Ginolfi in third. The trio paced the front of the field for the first 14 laps of the 18-lap Main Event until Ginolfi bobbled and allowed BWRengines.com Honda’s Maxx Malatia to take advantage and move into podium position. Out front, Smith comfortably took the checkered flag over five seconds ahead of Davenport while Malatia held on for third.

BWRengines.com Honda’s Kyle White, who finished fourth, continues to lead the Western Regional standings by just three points over Davenport. Malatia sits just six points back in third with three races remaining.

The AMSOIL Arenacross season continues next weekend with its inaugural visit to Hidalgo, Texas. Two nights of action inside State Farm Arena commences on Friday, March 14th, and continues on Saturday, March 15th. Both nights of action begin at 8 p.m. ET.